At approx 17:53pm,at Shoreditch church in London a group of protesters caused traffic,their reason:The Niger delta.A sudden feeling of shame descended on me as i scanned the crowd and was able to count only four black people amongst the sea of white faces.I was even further ashamed when it dawned on me that like some Nigerians(or majority) i should have been on the other side of the bus with protesters rather than going about MY own business not caring about my brodas and sistas in that region of my HOME country while these blue collared Oxbridge bred kids selflessly took it upon themselves to make the world aware of the goings-on .
Now my question is this?
Have we Nigerians (and by this, i am not only referring to those in Diaspora but also those within Nigeria who do not make what is happening there their business)  become so self centred and selfish that as long as our own bread is buttered well,we donot care about the well being of our own country men?

charla:

At approx 17:53pm,at Shoreditch church in London a group of protesters caused traffic,their reason:The Niger delta.A sudden feeling of shame descended on me as i scanned the crowd and was able to count only four black people amongst the sea of white faces.I was even further ashamed when it dawned on me that like some Nigerians(or majority) i should have been on the other side of the bus with protesters rather than going about MY own business not caring about my brodas and sistas in that region of my HOME country while these blue collared Oxbridge bred kids selflessly took it upon themselves to make the world aware of the goings-on .
Now my question is this?
Have we Nigerians (and by this, i am not only referring to those in Diaspora but also those within Nigeria who do not make what is happening there their business) become so self centred and selfish that as long as our own bread is buttered well,we donot care about the well being of our own country men?

Yes, we don't care. But we will jolt to "patriotic" life, become the "victims" and abuse all White people on the day someone surprises us by rightly raising the spectre of UN sanctions.
The "Nigerian" way can be very saddening. We don't even care how others see us and our actions, foriegners are 100% appalled and disgusted with what is going on in the ND.

charla:

Have we Nigerians (and by this, i am not only referring to those in Diaspora but also those within Nigeria who do not make what is happening there their business) become so self centred and selfish that as long as our own bread is buttered well,we donot care about the well being of our own country men?

That seems to be the case. People are now content with their generators, bore holes, high paying jobs/businesses, and their fenced in houses. It is bad and hightime we changed all that so as to reach the millions more who are without. But I am of the belief that money is not the solution in our case. people SPEAKING OUT is.

@OP

My argument.

It is a classical manifestation of the Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.  Those Oxbridge kids and their ilk have been propelled to the top of the pyramid by virtue of birth and social circumstance and will latch on to causes that give them a modicum of self-actualization.  I think the world is better off for having them but you instinctively gama that their priorities would change if they did not have those inherent advantages from the off.

Not generalizing but most Nigerians in diaspora on the other hand are either way down the bottom of the pyramid themselves or are held there by practical requirements to support the extended family back home.  Y'know the other day I met a Nigerian that had trekked across the Sahara and suffered major indignities across continental Europe to reach the UK.  We jived some so I don't think the fire of patrotic indignation burns less in that dude but he is simply too ensconced in the business of living.

@JNdupu, Nicely said.

JNdupu:

@OP

My argument.

It is a classical manifestation of the Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.  Those Oxbridge kids and their ilk have been propelled to the top of the pyramid by virtue of birth and social circumstance and will latch on to causes that give them a modicum of self-actualization.  I think the world is better off for having them but you instinctively gama that their priorities would change if they did not have those inherent advantages from the off.

@JNdupu
Youre quite right that these kids may just be fighting this cause becos its d fashionable thing to do at the moment,and will prolly get bored when the next more pathetic story of another region/other African country comes along and then the Niger delta becomes yesterday's news.If this is the case,is it not our patriotic duty to take up the cause as this is occuring within our home country? This way,we'll be confident that the future of the the Niger delta is in the hands of people who really care and whose futures are also invested in the advancement of that region(by that i mean we ,the Nigerian youth).
However if this kids are protesting out of genuine concern for the region,then I must say they are Noble and selfless and maybe God is using them to do what Nigerians have refused to do and chosen to ignore.

what are they fighting for? As usual with Nigerians, crying and dancing when the music has stopped.

Charla,

In an ideal world, that would be the case.  Let us not fail to acknowledge groups of Nigerians who selflessly organize and participate in protests but we all agree, as a group, their effort is not related to the overall size of the community. But, that community is really not unified and it will be difficult to find one common cause to latch on today (apart from "disband the Super-Chickens" lol).

To personalize the Niger Delta protest example you raised,  I received a series of text messages inviting me to protest the "massacre" in the Niger Delta.  Now, my own current information is that the Govt. may be bungling its way to a solution but the current status quo of militancy was not ideal.  Even if this can be isolated as human rights case, I may be willing to go along in between my struggle to survive here except for the fact the text messages came from a friend who owned a Restaurant in London.  I know for a fact that this Restaurant was favored by ex-Gov Diepreye Alamieyeseigha in his hey days and during his temporary exile.  He even held a series of UK launch events there.  Now, you see my confusion.

charla:

@JNdupu
Youre quite right that these kids may just be fighting this cause becos its d fashionable thing to do at the moment,and will prolly get bored when the next more pathetic story of another region/other African country comes along and then the Niger delta becomes yesterday's news.If this is the case,is it not our patriotic duty to take up the cause as this is occuring within our home country? This way,we'll be confident that the future of the the Niger delta is in the hands of people who really care and whose futures are also invested in the advancement of that region(by that i mean we ,the Nigerian youth).
However if this kids are protesting out of genuine concern for the region,then I must say they are Noble and selfless and maybe God is using them to do what Nigerians have refused to do and chosen to ignore.